U.N. Official: Nearly A Million Syrians Are Living Under Siege

A top United Nations official has called upon the Security Council to stop playing politics with the lives of Syrians and do everything in its power to bring an end to the violence in Aleppo.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien cast aside diplomacy Monday to speak bluntly about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Aleppo, which he described as a “slaughterhouse.”

O’Brien said he was at his "wit's end as a human being" in the face of continued violence in Syria and questioned the purpose of UN meetings on the conflict, if the international body was unwilling to act.

“Shame on us all for not acting to stop the annihilation of eastern Aleppo and its people and much of the rest of Syria too,” O'Brien said.

Nearly a million Syrians are living under siege in cities like Damascus, O’Brien said — and that is a dramatic increase from just months ago.

"This time last year, the number of besieged people stood at 393,700," he said. "Six months ago it stood at 486,700. Today, I have to report to you that, following a comprehensive review, we estimate that a total of 974,080 people — nearly one million Syrians — are living tonight under siege.

“Let me be clear: we are not just seeing a resumption of violence in Aleppo, this is not business as usual,” he said. “What has been unleashed on civilians this past week is yet another low in an unrelenting inhuman onslaught — It is civilians who pay the price.”